A project 1960 Jaguar XK150 S 3.8L Drophead Coupé, which survived a head-on crash 25 years ago, sold for a princely sum of £90,000, six times its pre-sale estimate at yesterday's Bonhams MPH Auction. Another mid-restoration project, a 1968 Aston Martin DB6 Sports Saloon, doubled its estimate to sell for £153,000.

1968 Aston Martin DB6 Sports Saloon, sold for £153,000

Meanwhile, a beautifully presented and low mileage 2013 Range Rover Vogue SE, formerly belonging to the Royal Household and used by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge exceeded its own top pre-sale estimate, making £50,625.

These were just three successful sales at the Bonhams MPH Bicester Heritage drive-through auction, which was the first live sale of 2021 for the auction house's modern, popular and historic car division returning to its traditional format with a successful sell-through rate of 83 per cent and sale total of £1.85m.

The Jaguar was one of the most desirable and powerful Drophead S variants, of which only 50 were originally produced, and had been in single ownership since 1969. Despite its mangled condition caused by an accident on wet roads in 1996, it was offered with matching numbers and original leather interior and was sold to a bidder in the saleroom.

The Royal Range Rover, a top of the range Vogue SE, was offered in nearly new condition, having covered fewer than 39,000 miles over its lifetime. The Baltic Blue motor car had been fitted with many option extras, including panoramic glass roof, side steps and a drinks fridge and, unusually for an ex-Royal Household vehicle, was offered with its original registration number.

Rob Hubbard, Head of Bonhams MPH, said: "We were delighted to welcome bidders back to the traditional live auction at Bicester Heritage and the activity in the room shows that they were pleased to be back too. They had healthy competition however from the online and Bonhams app bidders, who followed the livestreamed sale with our enhanced video presentation. The enthusiast market is in rude health at present and we are delighted to continue to support this essential element of the collectors' car market."

Other highlights of the sale included:

The ex-Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan 1930 Austin Heavy Twelve Open Tourer sold for £30,375. Owned for many years by the two comedy greats and named 'Old Min' after one of their famous 'Goon Show' radio programme characters, the Austin had been restored at a cost of £45,000 by world-renowned Aston Martin specialist, Richard Williams.

The ex-Pat Moss 1958 Austin A40 Farina realised £45,000. Another Austin, known as 'Zoey', in which Pat Moss and co-driver Ann Wisdom won the ladies prize and finished 10th overall in the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally.

The Bonhams MPH team are now consigning for the next auction at Bicester Heritage on 17 July. Contact [email protected] to discuss consigning your modern classic or historic collectors' vehicle to the sale.